If you’re not interested in the preamble, here’s the recipe.

Hello Reader,

In last night’s post, I wrote that this weekend in Canberra is a long one because of Reconciliation Day on Monday.

Notwithstanding the public holiday, I’ll go into the office tomorrow because colleagues in the states and the Northern Territory are working. We need to get some work done. While working from home has become normative, coordinating multiple documents, and incorporating feedback from stakeholders is easier with two desktop monitors. Having leftover steak from tonight’s meal will make a wonderful lunch. I will nonetheless reflect on Reconciliation Day while I’m in the office.

Tonight, I’m cooking a steak and some prawns and serving them with hollandaise sauce. I’ve chosen a porterhouse steak and some king prawns.

Recipe

Ingredients

• Porterhouse steak
• Salt
• Pepper
• Garlic powder
• Rice bran or peanut oil
• King prawns
• Butter
• Eggs
• Lemon
• Sriracha sauce
• Bird’s-eye chillies
• Peas
• Shallots
• Fennel
• Vegetable stock

Tools

• Precision water heater and circulator¹
• Vacuum chamber²
• Water bath
• Cast iron frying pan
• Stainless steel frying pan
• Stick blender
• Plastic cup
• Microwave oven
• Knives

Instructions

Steak

1. Unwrap the steak and place it onto a cutting board or suitable work surface.
2. Season the steak with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. I use iodised salt and freshly cracked black peppercorns.
3. Put the steak in a vacuum bag. If you don’t have the tools to vacuum seal, use a sealable plastic bag and displace the air before sealing the bag.
4. Heat the water in the water bath to 54 °C (129 °F). Suppose you don’t have a water heater and circulator. In that case, you can use a stockpot or other suitable vessel on a hob. With a thermometer, keep monitoring the temperature and keep it within a few degrees on either side for the entire cooking period.
5. When the water reaches 54 °C, place the steak into the water bath and cook for 2 hours and 50 minutes.
6. When the time is complete, turn off the water heater circulator and remove the steak from the water bath.
7. Open the bag and if there are meat juices, pour them into a container.
8. Remove the steak and dry it with a paper towel or clean dishcloth.
9. Heat a cast-iron frying pan until it is searing hot.
10. Add a little high smoking point neutral oil.
11. Sear the steak to the desired amount.
12. Allow the steak to rest under an aluminium tent.
13. With a sharp slicing knife, slice the steak to the desired thickness. I like my steak strips to be thick, meaty, and juicy.

Prawns

1. Peel the shells from the prawns and leave the tail shell in place.
2. Some people like to remove the alimentary canal from the prawn. I’m not one of those people.
3. Heat a stainless-steel frying pan. Use the Leidenfrost effect to determine when the frying pan is at the correct temperature.
4. Add a small amount of neutral oil and spread it across the pan’s surface.
5. Add some butter, and once the butter starts to foam, add in the prawns.
6. Cook the prawns carefully to avoid overcooking.
7. Place the cooked prawns on top of the steak and under the tent.

Hollandaise sauce

1. Place three egg yolks into a cup.
2. Whisk some Dijon mustard, lemon juice, and Sriracha sauce.
3. Melt about 100 g of butter using microwave radiation.
4. Use the stick blender to process the egg yolks and add the whisked mustard, juice, and hot sauce.
5. Keep the blender on and slowly drip the melted butter into the cup and watch the sauce form.
6. Transfer the sauce to a small glass pouring jug and keep it warm.

Vegetables

1. Put some frozen peas into a heat-proof bowl.
2. Add some diced shallots and fennel.
3. Boil some vegetable stock and add the meat juices from the cooked steak.
4. Cover with boiling meat-juice augmented vegetable stock.
5. Strain when the peas are cooked. The shallots and fennel will retain flavour and crunch.

Plating up and serving

1. Remove the aluminium tent covering the beef and prawns and transfer the meats to a warmed dinner plate.
2. Spoon the peas onto the plate next to the meats.
3. Spoon on the hollandaise sauce.
4. Give thanks to the Lord
5. Eat with a knife and fork. A steak knife isn’t necessary, but a well-weighted steak knife always feels nice in hand. As an alternative, you could put everything into a bowl and use a pair of chopsticks, given the steak has been sliced. You can “shovel” the peas into your mouth by raising the bowl to your gaping lips and sweeping the sauce-laden peas with the chopsticks.

Thoughts on the meal

When I got out of bed this morning and weighed myself, I had reached a new high for two years. You may ask why I prepare such a large meal if I want to get closer to 70 kg. I’m asking the same question. I have no answer! 🤨

The steak was beefy. The prawns were fleshy and firm. The tangy and buttery sauce accentuated the flavours of each meat element.

I did halve the steak, but I did eat all four prawns and all the peas. Sliced steak for lunch tomorrow will go down a treat.

Thoughts on blogging and work-life balance

Social media is a curious phenomenon. My engagement on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram waxes and wanes depending on how busy I am and other personal factors.

I went through and looked at how many bloggers I follow. There are some who I’ve been following since about 2010. My work and personal time are getting busier, and I’m happy about that. I’m going to spend less time on social media, and I’m going to cull the number of bloggers I follow.

I’m conscious of the privilege I have living alone and being comfortable financially. I admire and respect people who have far more hectic lives, are time-poor, and struggle financially. I blog for a hobby; I hope bloggers who derive an income from their writing continue to thrive. I will continue to support the professional bloggers whose writing and photography I enjoy.

Footnotes

1. A precision water heater and circulator maintain the water in the water bath at a constant temperature.
2. A vacuum chamber is used to vacuum seal food in plastic bags.